Thousands ordered to flee as Rita threatens Florida Keys

FT. LAUDERDALE — Expected to intensify into a hurricane, Tropical Storm Rita threatened to thrash Key West on Tuesday, possibly as a Category 2 hurricane with 100 m.p.h. winds.

The storm could swamp the lower Keys with up to 15 inches of rain and produce a storm surge of 6 to 9 feet.

Most of Florida's southeast coast could see dangerous, battering waves, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

In the Keys, tourists and all 78,000 residents living south of the Seven Mile Bridge were ordered to flee Monday. But many planned to leave anyway. That, said Lisa Jones, is because of what happened to New Orleans.

"I think Katrina had a lot to do with it. Look at all the death and destruction," said Jones, 43, as she hopped on a bus to Miami on Monday with her 5-year-old daughter. "This is just an island. It could go in one sweep."

Rita, the 17th named storm of the season, was moving west at almost 14 m.p.h., said National Weather Service meteorologist Jim Lushine. "Rita is moving almost twice the speed as Katrina," he said, "so it will be through here in less time."